An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has accused the governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, of carrying out intensive religious cleansing against Muslims in the state.
The allegation is contained in a press statement issued on Tuesday, by the MURIC director Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The group said: “We have credible information that Muslims in Taraba State have been facing persecution in the hands of Governor Darius Ishaku since his assumption of office six years ago. It has been a long story of articulated marginalisation in appointments and acrobatic neglect in other benefits.
“The list of persecutions is endless. Darius has embarked on religious cleansing in all segments of the state’s civil service, agencies and institutions. For example, all the twelve permanent secretaries appointed two months ago are Christians.
“The issue is not their faith. What we are interrogating is the criteria the governor used. The appointments lack merit because all the Muslims on levels 17 and 16 who should have been made permanent secretaries were by-passed while Christians under them who are on level 14 were picked. Governor Darius Ishaku deserves an international award in gymnastic religiousity.
“Darius must be asked what happened to laid down procedure? What is the cause of absence of due process under the Christian governor of Taraba State? Why have Muslims become second-class citizens under Ishaku? Is Taraba governor building a composite yet united citizenry? Is Darius conscious of the fact that he is preparing grounds for religious crisis in the state?
“Religious cleansing of unimaginable proportion is going on right now in Taraba as Muslim staff are being purged from their posts under the watchful eyes and ardent supervision of Darius Ishaku. Muslims in Taraba State have become endangered species. There is no job security or job satisfaction for them.
“Can Darius explain why the head of service, the secretary to the state government and the chief of staff are all Christians in a state where the governor is already a Christian but the population is predominantly Muslim? Is the governor aware that he is indirectly paving the way for the emergence of religious politics?
“Or does Governor Darius think the majority Muslim population does not know how to use its larger number as a game changer in the political architecture of the state? Perhaps a trial will convince Darius when ‘the come comes to become’. Politics is a game of numbers.
“We have no iota of doubt that this governor assumes that his tortuous policy of religious cleansing, oppression and persecution of Muslims will last forever. But we know that Taraba Muslims are no fools.
“The crimes of Darius against Taraba Muslims are being recorded. He appointed a Christian as registrar for Taraba State University without regard for the rules. He got a Christian bursar for the same university from the ministry after ignoring several qualified Muslim staff. Darius we hail thee. But there must be a day of reckoning.
“The most senior person who qualified for the post of auditor general of the state was bypassed because he is a Muslim while a Christian who had little or no experience was picked. What manner of criterion is this? Darius is sacrificing merit on the altar of mediocrity.
“Darius has also embarked on a project specifically designed to eliminate the most enduring heritage of Islam by refusing to appoint more Qadis (Shariah court judges) since the death of the Grand Qadi of Taraba State thereby rendering the Taraba State Sharia Court of Appeal redundant. The smart Alec knows fully well that the only two Qadis on ground cannot form a quorum.”
